---
title: Updating the Host
description: How to see when a newer Punktfunk host is available — the web console's update card — and the update command for every install method.
---

The web console tells you when a newer host is out. The **Host** page has an **Updates** card
showing the version you run, the channel you follow (stable or canary), how this host was
installed, and — once a newer release exists — the exact command that updates it. The
"update available" state also fires an `update.available` event on the host
[event stream](/docs/automation), and a successful update fires `update.applied` (with `from`
and `to`) once the host is back up — so hooks and scripts can react to both.

Your channel comes from the repository this host installs from — see
[Release Channels](/docs/channels) for what each track means and how to move a host between
them. The Updates card never switches channels for you.

The check is a small signed manifest the host fetches from the Punktfunk release feed and
verifies against keys built into the host itself — a tampered or replayed feed is rejected, and
the console will tell you when a check failed rather than silently showing stale facts.

## Updating, per install method

The console shows the right one of these automatically; for reference:

| How you installed | How to update |
|---|---|
| Windows installer | download the newer `punktfunk-host-setup-<version>.exe` from the [releases page](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/releases) and run it — it upgrades in place, keeping your settings, console password and paired devices |
| Windows via winget | `winget upgrade unom.PunktfunkHost` — **register the Punktfunk source once first**, in an elevated terminal: `winget source add -n punktfunk https://winget.punktfunk.unom.io -t Microsoft.Rest` |
| Ubuntu (apt) | `sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade punktfunk-host` |
| Fedora (dnf) | `sudo dnf upgrade punktfunk` |
| Bazzite sysext (recommended) | `sudo punktfunk-sysext update` |
| Bazzite / Fedora Atomic rpm-ostree layer | see below — `rpm-ostree upgrade` alone is not enough (staged — reboot to finish) |
| Arch / CachyOS (pacman) | `sudo pacman -Syu` (a normal full system upgrade) |
| Steam Deck (on-device build) | `bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/update.sh --pull` |
| NixOS (flake) | `nix flake update punktfunk` in your flake directory, then rebuild your system |

winget carries **stable** releases only. A Windows host on the canary channel updates by running the
canary installer again — `…/generic/punktfunk-host-windows/canary/punktfunk-host-setup.exe`, see
[Release Channels](/docs/channels).

### rpm-ostree layer: `rpm-ostree upgrade` is not enough

`rpm-ostree upgrade` upgrades the **base image** and only re-resolves layered packages when the
base actually changes — so on a base that sits still (a pinned tag, a paused rebase) it keeps
reporting "No updates available" while newer Punktfunk RPMs are sitting in the repo. Force
rpm-ostree to re-resolve just the Punktfunk layer, removing and re-adding the same names in one
transaction:

```bash
sudo rpm-ostree refresh-md --force
sudo rpm-ostree update \
  --uninstall punktfunk --uninstall punktfunk-web \
  --install   punktfunk --install   punktfunk-web
systemctl reboot
```

Name only the packages you actually layered — `rpm-ostree status` lists them. The new version is
staged; it activates on the next boot.

Two things to know. The re-resolve picks the highest version across **every enabled**
`/etc/yum.repos.d/punktfunk*.repo`, so if the canary repo is enabled alongside the stable one,
canary wins and the box quietly tracks canary — enable exactly the channel you want (see
[Release Channels](/docs/channels)). And if this box runs the Bazzite **sysext**, the sysext
shadows any layered copy: update with `sudo punktfunk-sysext update` instead.

### Restart after a Linux package update

Restart the host to pick up the new binary:

```bash
systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host
```

If the update also brought a new `punktfunk-web` (the console itself — it ships as a separate
package and a separate user service), restart that too, and do it first; the page blinks and
reconnects:

```bash
systemctl --user restart punktfunk-web
systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host
```

A `pacman -Syu` upgrades every installed Punktfunk package, so it always needs both. The apt and
dnf commands above name one package, so they usually don't — to move the console and the host
together, name both: `sudo apt install --only-upgrade punktfunk-host punktfunk-web` (apt) or
`sudo dnf upgrade punktfunk punktfunk-web` (dnf). If you enabled the plugin/script runner, it is
a third unit: `systemctl --user restart punktfunk-scripting`.

(The Windows installer restarts the service itself; `punktfunk-sysext update` prints the same
restart hint when it's needed.)

## One-click updating (Windows)

On a Windows host the card shows an **Update now** button instead of a command. It asks for the
console password again (a saved login alone can't restart your host), then the host downloads
the installer, verifies it against the signed release manifest **and** its code signature, and
runs it silently — the service restarts at the end and the page reconnects by itself. If a
stream is live you'll be warned first: updating drops it.

Every attempt leaves a result in the card (and an installer log under
`C:\ProgramData\punktfunk\logs\update-<version>.log`) — including across the restart, so a
failed update is never silent.

If the newly installed host crash-loops, the service puts the previous installer back on its own
(the last two are kept) and says so in the card — you end up on the version you started from,
not on a dead host. That rollback writes
`C:\ProgramData\punktfunk\logs\update-rollback-from-<version>.log`.

## One-click updating (Linux — opt-in)

The apt, dnf, Bazzite-sysext, and rpm-ostree installs can one-click update too, via a small
root helper the packages ship (`pf-update` + a `punktfunk-update.service` oneshot). It's **off
until you opt in**, because a web button that ends in root deserves an explicit decision:

```bash
sudo usermod -aG punktfunk-update $USER    # takes effect within a minute — no re-login needed
```

The console re-checks group membership every minute, so the **Update now** button replaces the
opt-in hint on its own — there's no need to log out and back in.

That group membership is the entire grant — a polkit rule lets its members start exactly that
one service, whose only job is "run this system's normal package update for the Punktfunk
packages, then prove the new binary runs". The button never chooses versions or URLs; your
package manager's own signed repositories stay the source of truth. The card shows the opt-in
command until you've done this, and the manual command always keeps working.

Notes per method: on **rpm-ostree** the update is staged and the card will say so — reboot to
finish (the console never reboots your machine). On **Arch/pacman** the button additionally
requires `PACMAN_FULL_SYSUPGRADE=1` in `/etc/punktfunk/update.conf`, because the only safe
pacman update is a full `pacman -Syu` — partial upgrades are how Arch boxes break, and we
won't run one. After a successful update the host restarts itself and the page reconnects.

The **Steam Deck on-device build** gets the button too, with no opt-in (it's your own user's
install, no root involved): it runs the same `update.sh` rebuild the docs describe, which
compiles on the Deck — expect it to take a while; the card keeps showing progress and the log
lands in `~/.config/punktfunk/logs/update-steamos.log`.

## Updating a client

This page is about the host. Clients update on their own tracks — `flatpak update` on Linux, your
normal `apt upgrade` / `dnf upgrade` for the packaged Linux client, a newer `.dmg` dragged over the
old app on macOS, TestFlight on iPhone/iPad/Apple TV, Google Play on Android, and the Decky panel's
own **Update** button on a Steam Deck. The per-platform table is in
[Install a Client → Keeping a client up to date](/docs/install-client#keeping-a-client-up-to-date).
A host and a client don't have to be on the same version, but keeping them close is the least
surprising.

## Turning the check off

The check contacts `git.unom.io` (the Punktfunk forge) and nothing else, and sends nothing but a
normal download request. If you'd rather the host never checks, add this line to the host's
`host.env`:

```bash
PUNKTFUNK_UPDATE_CHECK=0
```

`host.env` lives at `~/.config/punktfunk/host.env` on Linux and
`%ProgramData%\punktfunk\host.env` on Windows — see [Configuration](/docs/configuration). Then
restart the host: `systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host` on Linux, or restart the Punktfunk
host service on Windows. The card then shows checks as disabled; everything else keeps working.

`PUNKTFUNK_UPDATE_APPLY=0` in the same file removes the **Update now** button on any host,
Windows or Linux; the card shows the manual command instead.

## If the card says the feed is stale

"Feed hasn't changed in over 45 days" means checks *succeed* but nothing new arrives. Usually
that just means no release happened for a while; if the [releases page](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/releases)
shows something newer than the card does, something between this host and the feed is pinning old
data — worth a look at proxies or DNS on the way to `git.unom.io`. That comparison only works on a
**stable** host: the releases page is stable-only, so a canary host being "behind" it means
nothing.

## Next

- Something went wrong during or after an update? [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting).
- Want to remove Punktfunk instead, or find out what an uninstall leaves behind?
  [Uninstalling](/docs/uninstall).
